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User blog:Cfp3157/Historical Review: Gritty Character Drama and Comic Book Spectacle Make "The Dark Knight" the Iconic Superhero Movie
Even ten years after it first premiered in IMAX theaters on July 18th, 2018, in a world now polluted with gritty crime dramas, superhero escapades, and dark character studies that double as political allegory, The Dark Knight stands tall as a class all on its own and surpasses many of its peers in every way. Featuring several performers that have become titans in the industry as well as a performance that has gone down in cinematic history, Christopher Nolan's hand has never been steadier as he guides them alongside a veteran crafts team to create a film whose influence will likely be felt decades from now. The Cast To begin with the supporting cast, Maggie Gyllenhaal deftly handles a character that could have easily come off as aloof or unlikeable (much like it did when Katie Holmes originally had the role). Instead, Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her love interest a nurturing, grounded presence in spite of the individual character quirks. Her skills as an actress echo years of platonic companionship and genuine love alongside Christian Bale, while her doting girlfriend provides the humanistic core to Aaron Eckart that makes viewers truly believe that Harvey Dent is a good man. Despite debuting in the same comic book issue as the Caped Crusader himself, and appearing alongside him in various other medias alongside him, the character of James Gordon will always be defined by the performance Gary Oldman. His dedication to the character is evident in every frame, with his exhausted movements and exasperated sighs adding shadows to his faultless moral compass and grounded approach. If Gyllenhaal was the humanistic core of the cast, then James Gordon as played by Gary Oldman has become its grounded center. Perhaps the most iconic supporting character in the history of Batman is Alfred Pennyworth, played excellently by veteran actor Michael Caine. Caine and Nolan managed to take the loving, caring persona created by decades of comic book history and the touching performance of Michael Gough to elevate him from dedicated servant to caring father- not father figure, but father. In addition, Caine takes the sarcastic humor and dry commentary often associated with Alfred and dials it up to eleven, his thick Cockney accent adding much needed color and joy to a film full of darkness and brooding. Harvey Dent is one of Batman's most iconic villains, with the charismatic Billie Dee Williams briefly helming the role adeptly and Tommy Lee Jones salvaging the character from the campy Batman Forever. However, the underestimated character actor Aaron Eckart has delivered the best rendition of the mobster yet. His arrogance and self-confidence is an easy enough aspect of the character; much more difficult is the character's good-sided optimism, as well as the following descent into pure anarchy and cynicism. Throughout the film's runtime, Eckart has the most difficult job of all the starring cast in that his character is given the most complete, visible arc of the film, and he takes Dent on the fall with flying colors. Famous for the more physical side of his commitment to acting, Christian Bale is less noted for his total mental dedication to his characters. And Bruce Wayne is absolutely no exception- while the previous film was about Wayne burying his human side in order to become the Batman, in The Dark Knight it has become about bringing that human side back to life. Bale sells this odyssey deftly, in the beginning his aloof Wayne very clearly an act while showing the character's core as the Dark Knight. As the film evolves, so too does Wayne, and as his human side is brought back Bale brings that inner conflict out into the outside for all to see. While he was arguably giving a better performance in Batman Begins, there is little doubt that this was a more challenging role that Bale tackles with precision and control that is to be heavily admired. Finally, it is time to address the film's main talking point and biggest draw; Heath Ledger's immortal portrayal of the Joker. In an age of Mad Titans, Killmongers, Doomsdays, and Ghosts, there is a lightning-in-a-bottle magnetism to Heath Ledger's Joker. Again, capturing the more charismatic and outright flashy moments of the character is easy enough, with Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, and even Jared Leto all delivering a stab with varying degrees of success. But what Ledger managed to capture is something different, taking the genuinely dark, disturbing elements of the character and highlighting them for the world to see. He doesn't fill a room, but instead engulfs it, forcing viewers to see the Joker for what he really is; the dark side of humanity. The ultimate nihilism, devouring all in its wake to work counterintuitively to human instinct as it destroys all aspects of life. The fact that Heath Ledger, whose career previously consisted of characters that grappled with that darkness, fully embraced that darkness and showed it for all the world is why he remains the greatest comic book villain of all time. He's not like other great comic book villains, who take elements of humanity to the extreme. Instead, what makes him great is how he devolves humanity into its primal, self-destructive form. He manages to do the impossible; create a fully fleshed out villain, but with none of the humanity. Score: 5 out of 5 The Story One year after the demise of Ra's al Ghul and the rise of the Batman, a new villain has surfaced to face the Caped Crusader just as the criminal underworld has begun to recover and adapt to the vigilante. The Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, has no morality and no foreseeable end goal, wreacking havoc on Gotham City all with the main goal of simply upsetting the societal normalcy. Batman, as hero of the night and shadows, is left unable to defeat a man who lets his crime be seen in broad daylight, so he turns to Harvey Dent, the District Attorney of Gotham, and James Gordon to aid him finishing the Joker. For lack of a better word, this film's primary trait is contrast. Not just the expected contrast needed for compelling cinema- the Joker's chaos versus Batman's order, the trusted establishment versus the moral outsider- but in every facet of the script's creation. Each character moves in a different way that is unique and separate from the others while still overtly connected. On the surface level, this nature of contrast takes place in dialogue; the Joker's sporadic, schizophrenic outbursts and flowery monologues are paradoxical when placed against the smooth, calm and controlled speeches of Harvey Dent or the tense, curt grunts from Batman, while Rachel Dawes is created as a comforting, nurturing moral compass of Dent to collide with Alfred's worrying, nervous love for his son Bruce. On a deeper level, there's the now decades-long feud between how Batman sees humanity against the Joker's view of it. Not just a simple relationship of protagonist opposing antagonist, these characters perspectives collide at a fundamental level. These two do not collide just for story reasons- someone has to be the hero, someone has to be the villain- but because nothing about them is compatible. This becomes the most evident in the character of Harvey Dent, who is too bound by oath and law for the Joker's liking but too in touch with his humanity (and thus human error) for Batman to completely trust him. In terms of themes, many have debated this and discussed The Dark Knight 's story in the last decade, as well as comparing it to following comic book films. Naturally, the debate of good versus evil remains a core part of the story. Specifically, how one goes about combating evil, and there are different interpretations of its message. It has become a mirror to a society that has no middle ground, relevant in 2008 and remaining relevant in 2018- as society deals with the terror and pure anarchy of the outlaws of the world, how can it be prevented from becoming villains like Harvey Dent or, to the public's eye, Batman? Is there a way for those that fight monsters to win without becoming monsters, either literally or metaphorically? One theme that hasn't received much attention from mainstream critics (and not to this critics attention, at least), is how it deals with optimism. All of the characters deal with optimism in the face of despair in different ways; the Joker, who sees the world as corrupt and unredeemable, takes the form of total nihilism. Rachel Dawes and Michael Caine, who each provide a bedrock of different kinds of hope; Rachel's hope is more abstract, expecting things to become better but ultimately culminating in her death and downfall, while Alfred's hope is grounded and pragmatic. Rachel's hope is in the ultimate good, while Alfred's is mere survival. And the people those two characters support are enhanced even further. Harvey Dent has faith and hope not just in people's basic goodness but society's as well. His boundless optimism, combined with the arrogance and bulletproof confidence it brings, makes his inevitable downfall all the more poignant and tragic. His brand of optimism is not prepared to deal with the harsh cruelty of reality, and thus when the challenges finally rise to a level equal or surpassing his ability to hope he cannot cope. In contrast, Bruce Wayne has been hurt and disillusioned by reality far too much to allow his core hope in humanity to guide him. As Batman, his own false cynicism is what prevents him from defeating the Joker, but when he decides to rely on others and allow Bruce Wayne's basic optimism to rise up do his victories emerge. While Harvey Dent's optimism is what causes his ultimate downfall, it is Bruce Wayne embracing of it alongside reality that allows him to finally defeat the Joker. These themes and complexities are vast and heavy topics to deliver onto an audience expecting action and excitement, and thus it is felt throughout the film's runtime. Without a doubt this film does so effectively, giving viewers willing to engage it a healthy dose of thought-provoking information and questions. The Dark Knight has more often been called a crime epic than superhero film, and that epicness is often felt in brief moments that are few and far between. Score: 4.5 out of 5 The Direction Christopher Nolan has gained a reputation as a director known for his perfection and dedication to the art of filmmaking. And let it be known that, unlike any other director in the modern age, Christopher Nolan is distinctly a filmmaker. The kinds of stories he desires to tell have to be told on film, and the way he assembles his stories as screenwriter show his preference for the media he chooses to express it. However, this focus on the technical aspect of filmmaking is hardly a flaw- in fact, it is what elevates The Dark Knight beyond a simple comic book story. This level of perfectionism is most evident in the production and visual effects, where some of the most iconic action setpieces of the millennia have been created. The most famous of these happens to be the masterfully-choreographed car chase through Gotham City, with several key moments that set the heart racing alongside the Batpod. An eighteen-wheeler flipping completely over as the chase ends; the Joker wildly yelling at Batman to run him over, only for the vigilante to flip over to adhere to his moral law; these are moments that couldn't be read on a page, seen in a painting, or acted out on stage. It is the kind of spectacle that only film can deliver. In terms of traditional film criticism, every member of the crafts team is perfect. The score, composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, keeps the blood pumping. These musical cues and moments don't ever let up or calm down, with the music constantly pushing forward. It never falters, it rises and rises and rises until a breaking point in the same way these characters are constantly pushed and pushed until they have nowhere to stop. A respite or brief pause in music is never given, just a moment of silence before the violins begin the subtle climb again and the adrenaline begins pumping. Matching the musical cues beat for beat is Lee Smith, the film's editor. Despite the weight of the story and epic scale, Smith allows each scene to breathe the perfect amount before transitioning onward and upward. With the film constantly escalating, Smith very rarely gives his movie the moments of respite that audiences crave. This is actually a good thing, as it keeps the audience on their toes and constantly engaged. It creates pauses only when absolutely required for the narrative, smartly calming the film down with board meetings and crime-solving moments only to jolt the viewers back to the action. Capturing all of this action is Wally Pfister, a longtime collaborator of Nolan's. Pfister served as the cinematographer for Nolan on every film of the latter's career up until The Dark Knight, and would continue to do so until the trilogy conclusion four years later in The Dark Knight Rises. The clear relationship between the two filmmakers is evident, as the grand size and scale Nolan wishes to capture on film is delivered to him every time by Pfister's masterful eye. The two have a clear aesthetic and talent together, capturing every sweeping shot of Gotham's skyline or the gritty, nail-biting action of its setpieces with precision. Returning finally to Christopher Nolan, the auteur takes the touches and techniques of smaller scaled cinema and explodes it onto the silver screen. By focusing on keeping everything semi-realistic and practical, the film flows smoothly and deftly in a way that will satisfy all kinds of film fans. Nolan's taste for cinematic action and visual splendor mesh well with the audiences who seek action and excitement, while his subtle touch and ways of expressing his thoughts visually make his work a favorite to those who watch for the cinema and not the craft. Score: 5 out of 5 Final Verdict What could be said about The Dark Knight that hasn't already been said about it? Fantastic performances, cinematography, visual effects, scoring, editing, directing, and production are all present; even the script, a common flaw in superhero films, is far above the par. The Dark Knight succeeds as a superhero movie precisely because it doesn't try to be- first and foremost, it is a character study on vigilante justice, and a grand crime epic. Not content to allow viewers to passively absorb their entertainment, Christopher Nolan instead allows viewers that desire more a conduit via any of the several well-crafted characters to insert themselves- and their perspectives- into the story. The themes and messages it carries are heavy, but delivered effectively and without any flaws that would be more than nitpicking. It is the golden standard for superhero, action, and crime films for a reason- it's a masterpiece. Final Score: 97% Category:Blog posts Category:Reviews Category:Historical Reviews